the Hermit
by SeriinSakura
Summary: Yuki starts working as a maid at a mansion, owned by the famous writer, Kuran Kaname. even though the mansion is imressive, it soon becomes clear, Kuran lives very closed off from the rest of the world, and the behaviour of everyone in the mansion, leads Yuki to believe there's a reason for his distant behaviour. Like he is hiding something. But what?
1. The mansion

**Ch.1 : The mansion**

Yuki stood in the immense entrance hall of the exceptionally large mansion. The walls and floors were made out of marble, the chandeliers were made of gold, and were actually lit with candles, how oldfashioned. There were expensive paintings and tapestries everywhere, statues adorned the hall, and the doors she could see were made of mahogany,gravured and decorated with gold.

She couldn't believe how big it all was. The man living here must be so rich. From what her father told her, she only knew he was a very succesfull author, that he inherited his wealth from his deseased parents, and that he hardly showed his face in public. Her father was also the one who helped her get this job. Considering her father, Cross Kaien, was basically the landlord here, he arranged for her to work here during summer break. That way, she could earn some money, so she might finally be able to make that trip to Paris.

Yuki impatiently tapped her foot. Her father told her to wait here for the head of the household, but she had been waiting for fifteen minutes already. Did they forget about her? Or didn't they care?

A door creaked to her left, and she turned her head, only to see the most beautifull woman she had ever seen. She had long, ashy blond hair, reaching down to her waist. Her eyes were big lightbrown orbs, that quickly eyed Yuki as she elegantly came closer. She was completely dressed in white, apart from a red bow tied under the colar of her jacket. Her skirt ended a few inches above her knees, and she wore black stockings.

The woman halted in front of Yuki, looking at her top to bottom again, without speaking. Not knowing wether it was polite to speak first, Yuki waited untill she would talk.

"Cross Yuki, I presume?"

"Yes, Miss."

"Miss Souen. Or Souen-sama, for you."

"Yes, Souen-sama."

"Please follow me."

Impressed and also slightly aggitated by the cold and distant behaviour, but also the elegant way Miss Souen walked, Yuki quietly followed her, into another hall, and up some stairs. Miss Souen lead her to the East wing of the mansion, and halted in front of a wooden, lightblue door, turning to face Yuki.

"The maids sleep in the Eastwing, the master and his personal servants sleep and live in the West wing. We do not dine together, because the servants and maids eat after the master is finished eating. You are not permitted to go to the West wing, unless you're ordered to. The master may not be disturbed You may not go to his private quearters, unless he specifically summons you, wich is very unlikely. Your uniform is on your bed, you start working at five in the morning. Rima-san will explain your duties to you then. I sugest you take some rest, and put your belongings in place. You have a private bathroom, wich is a privilege. Be thankfull. You are not allowed to invite your boyfriend over; if you wish to see him, you do that on your day off. Understood?"

Miss Souen just ratled her intsructions like she had been doing nothing else all day long, and raised her eyebrows at Yuki.

"Yes. Miss... Souen-sama. But I don't have a boyfriend."

Miss Souen looked at her again, and slightly smiled.

"Yes, no wonder. This is your room. don't be late tomorrow."

And with those words she turned and left Yuki alone. Yuki looked at her leave with a frown on her face. That woman was as unfriendly as she was beautifull. But then again, most beautifull people were. Arrogant, selfish and obnoxious. With a sigh she opened the door to her room, and gasped when she layed eyes on the room itsself.

"My goodness..."

The room was light blue of color, with white ornaments on the ceiling, the walls and even the furniture. The knobs on her drawers and closet doors were white with silver decorations, there was a full length mirror in a silver frame, and again the floor was made of marble, slightly blue-ish. There was a large white, fluffy rug in the middle of the room, and the kingsize bed had white pillars, as tall as Yuki, with silver angels on top of them, and the sheets were made of the finest blue silk she had ever seen. Yuki noticed her suitcases were already next to her bed, and on the bed was a black uniform, exactly like the one Miss Souen wore, the only difference being its color.

"Miss Souen must be one of the Masters private servants. It almost seems like he is royalty."

Noticing the door to her right, she walked towards it and opened it, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets when she beheld the humongous bathroom. Instead of marble , these walls and floor were made of some darkblue stone Yuki didn't recognise at first. When she looked closer, she noticed little golden sparkles in it.

"Is this Lapis Lazuli? That's insane!"

Yuki mumbled to herself as she looked around the bathroom. The giantic bath was made of marble and gold, the toilet and sink were made of solid gold, the mirror had a golden frame and was adorned with little diamonds, and golden cupids. The ceiling looked like she was looking at the sky; it was painted like the ceiling of The Louvre in Paris. She had only seen pictures, but it was breathtaking. For a servant, a maid, to have a room like this, it made her wonder what the masters room was like. Or even Miss Souens room. It all looked ridiculously wealthy.

Yuki went back to the bedroom,and started putting her clothes in the closet. She put some personal decorations on her nightstand, and plugged her phone charger in the power outlet, connecting her phone on the other end so the battery could recharge. When she was done putting all her belongings in place she stopped and looked around. Giving a quick glance at her watch, she decided there was plenty of time to take a bath before dinner, and went to the bathroom to fill the bath. While she waited for it to fill, she slowly undressed and went into the bedroom again to pick some clean clothes. She decided to wear her black lady pantalons, with a white blouse. Her working uniform already had a skirt, so when she wasn't working, she really did not want to wear a skirt as well.

When the bath was full, Yuki added some of her scented oil to the water, and slowly stepped into the water untill it covered her chest.

"Ahhh, this is the life. If I can take a bath like this every day, working here will almost be a party. I am so lucky!"

When she felt completely relaxed, she got out, and let the bath empty. After drying off, she wrapped the large, soft towel around her body, and went back into the bedroom, dropping the towel next to her bed, and started to get dressed. Just as she stepped into her panties, there was a short tap on the door.

"Just a minute, please!"

Yuki hurried into her bra, but was yet again disturbed with a tap on the door. A little aggitated by the impatience of whoever was knocking, she picked up the towel again, wrapped it around her body, and opened the door.

"Zero?!"

There he was. Her childhood friend, or at least, something close to that, stood right there in front of her, wearing a black suit that matched her uniform. For years he had been the only company she had, apart from her father. After his parents died in a tragic accident, her father took him in and raised him like his own son, but Zero had never accepted Kaien as his father.  
He looked at her with distant eyes, only now seeing she wasn't dressed. He quickly looked around and pushed her inside, quickly stepping in after her. He softly growled as he talked to her.

"You idiot! Why do you open the door in a towel? It could have been anyone!"

"It's your fault for being impatient! I told you to wait a minute."

"You should've just said you weren't dressed!"

Yuki pouted, realising he was right, and not able to give him a decent reply. Besides, they were both shouting, the other maids and servants might have heard them. What would they say when they knew Zero was in her room while she was in her underwear?  
Yuki's face turned bright red, and with her eyes squeezed shut she started pushing Zero towards the door.

"You idiot! What will they think if you're in my room, while I'm not dressed? I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend over!"

While being pushed Zero looked over his shoulder at Yuki.

"What are you talking about? I'm not your boyfriend! I'm almost your brother! Don't be ridiculous! Like I would look at you that way! OW, What the hell!"

Yuki smacked him on the back of his head, and opened the door, pushing him into the hallway.

"Thanks for making it obvious how unattractive I am!"

The door slammed shut, and Zero just stared at it with a blanc face. That girl, seriously. Since when was she working here? As soon as he heard he wanted to confirm it for himself, and she just smacked him on the head. And what did she mean 'unattractive'? What was she talking about? He knew her for years, but Zero was sure he would never understand Yuki. Girls were weird.

...

...

...

Yuki entered the massive dining hall and halted to a sudden stop, once again in awe with all the grandeur and wealth . A firm hand on her back pushed her forward , towards one of the buffet tables.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. You don't want to look dumb, do you?"

Zero's voice was close to her ear, sending a shiver down her spine, as he relentlessly kept pushing her forward. Once they reached the buffet table, he moved to the side to stand next to her, and handed her a plate.

"Selfservice. Pick something."

Yuki glanced to the side to see he was still in his uniform, even though after dinner they were suposed to be off duty.

"Why are you still wearing your uniform?"

"Just get some food."

Zero filled up his plate and walked away to take a seat. There were a ot lof girls, who were probably maids as well, and a lot of them were looking at Zero. There were a few guys, but even Yuki had to admit that Zero was easily the handsomest guy present. Some of the other maids were even whispering and giggling, but Zero looked like he didn't even notice. Yuki quickly filled her plate with something she didn't even recognise, and sat down next to Zero. He was the only one she knew around here, but it was obvious that the other girls didn't like her sitting next to him. She could just hear their murmurs.

"Who is she?"

"Why is she sitting next to Kiryu? He never sits next to anyone."

"Do you think they're dating?"

"Oh no! A hottie like him with HER?"

Yuki's face turned red in emberassment, but Zero started eating like he didn't hear a thing. Trying not to let the murmurs get to her, she followed his example and started poking her food with her fork. After a few minutes, Zero grunted with irritation.

"Stop playing and start eating."

Yuki immediately took a bite, and then had to fight the urge to spit it out again. She almost burned her tongue, and quickly swallowed, nearly choking on this unfamiliar dish. Next to her Zero sighed, and knowing him, he was mentally facepalming right now. If Yuki's face wasn't red already, it probably would've been right now. Next to Zero she just looked so awkward. He was always calm, and even though he was harsh, cold and rude, he at least had some dignity, where Yuki was awkard, clumsy and always getting in trouble.  
Zero had tons of girls drooling over him, but Yuki never so much as even caught a look from a guy. The only guy looking at her, was Zero, who right now, looked like he wanted her to disapear.

"You better not screw up your work as much as you screw up eating."

Yuki's face drooped above her plate as she sighed again, and she continued eating. She had no idea what it was, but it was delicious. Zero probably knew.

"Ah! Zero, what is this?"

Zero glanced at her plate.

"It's an Indian red Curry."

"It's good!"

He nodded in silence, emptied his plate, and got up to put his empty plate on another table, wich had more dirty dishes on it. He came back to sit next to her and waited quietly untill she finished eating. Copying what he had done before, she took her empty plate to the table with dirty dishes and left it there. Looking around to see where Zero was, she saw he was already at the door, and when he saw her looking at him, he left the dining hall. That was his way of telling her to follow him, and Yuki quickly ran after him.

"Zero! Wait up!"

The halls and rooms were mostly dark at this time of day. The master and his personal servants were at the other side of the mansion, and the maids and other servants were suposed to retreat to their own rooms after dinner. Not that Yuki knew ofcourse. She just followed Zero in the darkness.

"Where are we going?"

"You start working tomorrow. You need to know the way around this place."

He walked towards a door and opened it, without going in. Yuki peeked inside, seeing a grand library with so many books, she couldn't possibly count them. When he was sure she saw what it was, Zero closed the door and went on to the next. One after the other he showed her different rooms,and told her to remember where they were. A Music room, a study, a salon, a cosy lounge with a fireplace. Each and every one of them was as beautifull and extravagant as the rest she had seen. Marble, gold, expensive stones. Statues, tapestries. It all looked so overwhelming.

"The servants use this side of the house. Kurans rooms are simpler. He is rich, but he doesn't care about it much."

"Kuran?"

Yuki tasted the strange name on her tongue. It sounded mysterious.

"Kuran Kaname. The Lord of this house. I thought you knew."

"I haven't read any of his books. I didn't know anything about him before my father got me this job."

Zero sighed again.

"Well, I'd recommend you don't read them. It's trash."

"He's famous for his writing."

Zero stopped and turned towards her. They had been walking in a dimly lit corridor, and she could hardly see his face. It looked strange in this light. His eyes seemd to be glowing. Zero almost looked scary.

"Trust me, it's nothing you would like."

"Have you met him?"

"Once."

"What is he like?"

Zero frowned at her, turned around and started walking again. Soon Yuki found herself at the bottom of the stairs that led to the corridor where her room was. It wasn't weird for her that Zero didn't answer. That only made it clear that he didn't want to talk about the subject, in this case the Master, wich made her believe he didn't like the master.

Zero went upstairs, and walked Yuki to her room. He stopped next to it, looking at her as she put her hand on the doorknob.

"Yuki. Lock the door behind you."

"Huh. I always do, but why do you feel the need to tell me that?"

Without a warning, Zero suddenly grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her against his chest. His nose touched her ear and Yuki froze up.

"Zero?"

"Lock the door, Yuki. I get lonely."

He let her go as he hugged her, and dissapeared into the darkness of the corridor, leaving Yuki speechless. She quickly dashed into her room and locked the door behind her. After setting her alarm, she checked her phone . One message from her friend Yori;  
 _'How is the Mansion? Have you met Kaname?'_  
Yuki smiled and quickly answered.  
 _'No, and I don't think I will. It seems he's very distant. Zero is here too, and the mansion is breathtaking. Gotta sleep now xoxo'_

Yuki let herself fall onto her bed, hiding her face in the soft pillow.

"Ah, so soft! I'll sleep like a baby!"

Turning her head to the side she looked at her door. What did Zero mean when he said he got lonely? And why did she have to lock the door, to keep him out apparently? She never shut him out before. And he hugged her too. Zero was really acting strange.  
Tired of all the impressions of the day, Yuki's eyes quickly grew heavy, and soon she was fast asleep.

...

...

...

 **A/N: Please leave a review to let me know what you think. It's the first time I write A VK related fanfic, and I'm really looking forward to this one. Let me know!**


	2. The Staff

**CH.2: The Staff**

"You mean nobody has seen him? At all? What about the maids who clean his rooms then?"

"His private staff does that. None of us is allowed in his rooms. And apparently he never gets out."

"Never? "

Yuki quietly listened to the murmur and gossip at the breakfast table. It had been tough to get up at such ungodly hours, but listening to all these maids babbling about nothing was almost exhausting. Where did they get the energy to be so upset about...about...  
Turning to Zero next to her, she softly whispered;

"Who are they talking about?"

Zero grunted, looked at the girls as if he didn't even hear them untill Yuuki brought it up and sighed.

"The master of the house."

"Kuran-san?"

Zero didn't answer and just continued eating, ignoring the maids and housekeepers around him, like they just weren't there. Sometimes Yuuki wondered why he even chose to sit next to her, but maybe she was the only one he could put up with, simply because they grew up together. And even as children he had never been very kind or cheerfull.  
There was a bit of a noise at the other side of the dining hall, distracting Yuki's thoughts, and she looked up. There was a little girl standing by the door, so frail and pale and pretty, she ulmost seemed unreal, like a doll. Her red-ish blonde hair was tied up in two ponytails on the sides of her haid, and her eyes were a strange light shade of blue.

Even though she looked very young, her eyes had a look of wisdom about them, and her posture was proud, her figure elegant as she stood there with her back straight, confidently looking at them. The only thing that slightly put Yuki off, was the obvious sadness in the girls eyes. And then she spoke, and her voice rang trough the room like the sound of a babbling brook.

"My name is Rima Toya. You can call me Rima-sama."

"Goodmorning Rima-sama."

The maids and housekeepers all greeted her in choir and fell silent again, wondering what this girl was doing here. Apparently, she wasn't as young as she looked.

"I will be telling you your duties. You'll be assigned to specific rooms and tasks wich you will have to take care of every day. If you are done eating please get in line, and I will hand you your assignment. Questions are to be asked now, I will not have much time to explain anything later. I do have work to do."

Girls and boys started rushing about the dining hall in chaos, causing Zero to sigh with annoyment, but Rima-sama didn't even seem to care. She looked bored really. Like she was just floating trough life without a real goal. Sure thing was, she just stood there, waiting for everyone to get in line, like she had all the time in the world. Either she didn't care, or she was just very patient.

As the staff present all got in line, Zero walked towards the door, where he was stopped by another boy, who was obviously, just like Rima, a member of Kuran-sama's personal staff. Yuki looked at the boy preventing Zero from leaving the dining hall. She didn't even see him enter, but now that he was here, he seemed to suck all attention towards him. He had chestnut brown hair, like herself, almost the same eyes as Rima, and a very calm expression on his face.  
Yuki watched as he mumbled something to Zero, and after a short nod from Zero, he let him trough, Zero dissapearing from sight. The boy then looked her way, and Yuki's heart skipped a beat. Why was he looking at her? And why were all the members of the private staff, as far as she met any of them, so insanely goodlooking? It wasn't natural.  
The boy kept staring at her, grabbed some Pocky from his pocket,and slowly nibbled on some as he looked at her. Rima poked his side, and only then he finally looked away, and Yuki sighed with relief.

When it was finally her turn to get her assignment, Rima bit the nail of her thumb. She then sighed and said:

"Shiki just told me the master wants you to clean the library. It's quite big so you need multiple days for that. Plus you need to put all books back in place everyday, on alphabetical order. Dusting, vacuumcleaning. Clean the rugs and the curtains. And put fresh flowers in the vases every morning. Ruka likes it that way."

"Excuse me. Ruka?"

"Miss Souen."

The last reply came from the boy, who now seemed to try his best not to look at her, but Rima poked him again.

"Shiki, you shouldn't have answered. She spoke without permission."

Shiki just looked at her and continued nibbling on another Pocky stick. Yuki on the other hand, bowed to Rima, apologizing for her apparent rudeness, but Rima didn't reply to that.

"Shiki will show you were to get the vacuumcleaner and cleaning cloths. Please follow him."

Shiki turned and left without a word, and Yuki hurried after him. He lead the way with his hands in his pockets, not bothering to look back to see if she was following, because he apparently just expected her to do so. He showed her the way to a broomcloset, that was as large as you would expect it to be in such a mansion. While she was collecting the items she needed, he seemed to suddenly dissapear, only to come back later with some sort of trolley, that was perfect to put everything on, so she could take it to the library in one go.

Shiki already turned away from her, but looked over his shoulder again.

"You know where the library is?"

"Yes, Shiki-sama!"

"Senri. Just Senri."

"As you wish, Senri."

Shiki turned towards her again with a slight frown and took a deep breath.

"Too submissive. Beware of Aidou."

"Sorry, who? Idol?"

But Shiki turned around and left, going in a direction Yuki hadn't been yet, and she asumed that was the direction of Kuran-san's rooms. Looking around Yuki tried to figure out where exactly she was in this huge mansion, so she could find the library. After shaking her head from left to right a few times, she pushed the trolley to the left, around a corner, straight into Zero.

"Zero!"

"The library is the other way."

"How did you know I have to clean the library?"

"Just get to work."

He passed her, with the same old cranky look on his face that she knew so well. At least that was the Zero she knew. Quite different from the Zero that hugged her last night, and warned her to lock the door.

She turned around and after a few minutes she recognised where she was, finding the library doors, indeed where Zero said it was. She left the trolley where it was, because she needed both hands to open one of the massive wooden doors. As she was struggling to push it open, two hands suddenly ended up next to hers, and Yuki could feel someone standing close behind her.

"Let me help with that."

The door opened effortlessly, even though it was a really heavy door, and Yuki turned around to thank whoever helped her. There were two young men, one of them looked more like a boy even. The younger one smiled widely at her, while the eldest looked away with an annoyed expression.

"Hanabusa. Kaname-sama told you to stay away from the girls."

"O , come on Kain. I was just helping her, like the gentleman I am."

The boys smile had faded as he pleaded with the older boy, but he quickly turned towards Yuki again.

"What's your name?"

Yuki looked at him in bewilderment. It wasn't polite to just ask somebody's name without introducing yourself first,but maybe the rules didn't apply to the maids and private staff.

"My name is Cross Yuki. Nice to meet you both."

Kain gave her a quick glance, frowned, nodded as a greeting and looked away again, obviously eager to go somewhere else. The boy on the other hand once again beamed a wide smile.

"Ah, you're the landlord's daughter. You look so lovely in your maids uniform. I'm Hanabusa Aidou, and this is Akatsuki Kain. Nice to meet you too!"

And with another burst of enthousiasm, he threw his arms around her neck and hugged her, making Kain look their way with an obviously irritated face. So this was the Aidou she had the be carefull with?

"Hanabusa!"

"Oh my, Kain! She smells delicious!"

Aidou stepped back, holding alock of Yuki's hair between his fingers as he smiled at her again. But this smile was very different, and the boyish look on his face was gone. Yuki was too shocked for a few seconds, but then realised in disbelieve he was giving her a seductive look. Before she could even say anything, he reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled it up to his face. He softly pressed his lips against the skin of her wrist, and Kain aggitatedly sighed.

"Aidou..."

"Kain, I swear, I could just eat her."

There was a loud slap, that echoed trough the hall, and Kain looked at Yuki in disbelieve. Yuki on the other hand looked at Zero's back, who had his arm still in the air, making it obvious that he just slapped Aidou's hand away from Yuki, forcing him to let go of her arm. The look on Aidou's face was anything but the cheerfull boy now, and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Kain sighed again.

"Kiryu, you are really scary sometimes."

"Then tell the brat to keeps his hands of off her."

'The Brat' almost growled at Zero.

"Watch it Zero-kun. One of these days, Kain won't be there to stop me from ripping your head off. You should show some respect. Or have you forgotten that you're a filthy lowlife?"

Kain pinched the bridge of his nose with a grunt. Aidou peeked around Zero, and smiled at Yuki like nothing happened.

"See you later , Yuki miss! I might pay you a visit tonight."

And with that, he and Kain turned around and continued their way, to where ever it was they were going. Zero stood motionless, watching them leave, and Yuki slowly put her hand on his back.

"Thank you."

"Stay away from them."

"Both?"

"All of them. "

Yuki stepped around him and looked at his face, but Zero just kept looking in the direction Aidou and Kain went.

"But Zero, why?"

He finally looked down at her, almost looking sad for a second, but his face quickly turned back to normal. Well. Cranky normal.

"Stupid father, letting his daughter work here."

And then Zero too, left her alone, going back to his tasks. Yuki sighed and turned, pushing her trolley trough the door, and gasped at the size of the library. It was bigger than any library she had ever seen, shelves reaching up to the ceiling, tables and chairs interrupting the walls of books before her, neatly put around a fireplace. The whole library was colored in red and gold, in an almost Victorian fashion. It looked like the chairs and even a sofa were transported here, straight from the eighteenhundreds.

Even though Yuki couldn't see or hear anyone, the fire was lit, a soft crackling sound coming from the burning wood. Yuki walked towards it and warmed her hands above the fire for a few seconds.

"Ahh this is good."

Yuki straightened her back, and turned around to look at the library again. She took a deep breath, and walked over to the windows, opening them to let some fresh air in. It wasn't cold, so it didn't really make sense to her why the fire was lit, but it smelled really dusty in here, like it hadn't been cleaned in ages. Looking outside she noticed flowerbeds, and remembered she had to put fresh flowers in the vases. Collecting them all, she threw out the old flowers, and went outside trough the French patio doors.

Was she allowed to just pick flowers? She looked around for a gardener, and, to her relief, recognised her father amidst the flowerbeds.

"Father!"

Her father looked up, and smiled happily.

"A my beautifull daughter! I am so honored by your visit this morning."

As always, Kaien was way too cheerfull for a man in his position, but Yuki was very much used to it.

"Father, I need fresh flowers for the library, but I don't know where to get them."

Cross Kaien almost fainted in his swooning.

"Ah, how lovely! my beautifull Yuki needs my assistance. Have no worry, my dear, I will give you the stars if you ask me. The moon! The..."

The rest of his words were lost to Yuki, as she blocked him out with a sigh. He didn't even notice she wasn't listening, as he almost danced his way to a greenhouse, swung the doors open, and showed her the roses as if they were handmade by himself.

Yuki saw beautifull roses, with a shade of red that would match the library perfectly.

"I want those."

"Anything for my Yuki. You have such good taste."

"Yes, yes. Please hurry, I need to clean the library."

Mumbling excuses, her father started cutting enough red roses for all the vases, and , refusing to let her carry them back to the library herself, insisted on walking back to the patio doors with her. Once inside, Yuki quickly took the roses from him, put them on the table, and after pushing her father outside, closed the patio doors again. Her father was a good man, but sometimes he could really make her head hurt.

After she put the roses in vases, Yuki started collecting the books from the tables and began putting them back on their shelves. It took her an hour to just find the place where the first one should be, because of the size of the library. By the time she finally alphabetized all the books, and went back to her trolley, there was a man standing next to the fireplace, holding one of the roses she had put in the vas on the mantelpiece. He was looking at it like he never saw a rose before, and slowly brought it up to his nose to smell it.

Yuki softly cleared her troath, making him aware of her presence, and walked to the trolley to fetch a cleaning cloth.

"Excuse me Sir, I didn't see you before."

She bowed in apology, and looked at him. He stood stil beside the fireplace, the rose still in his hand, and stared at her with crimson eyes, in the most handsome face she had ever seen. She couldn't help but slightly gasp. There was a strange aura coming from him, wich made Yuki weak in the knees, and feeling nervous in her stomach.

"Did you choose these roses?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry if they're not to your liking."

The man slightly smiled at her, without a word. Not knowing what to do, Yuki bowed again, and wanted to turn around to start dusting the place, but in her movement she knocked over the vase on one of the sidetables. Red with emberassment, she quickly kneeled on the rug, and starting mopping the water from the floor, and putting the roses back in the vase. She stood up, with the last rose in her hand, and as she was about to put it in the vase, one of it's thorns pricked her in her thumb, and with a soft yelp, she dropped it.

"OW!"

She looked at the rose on the floor, and then at the elegant fingers that picked it up, the white sleeve of his white suit, and then his face. His eyes seemed to burn as he looked at her. But his eyes were fixated on her thumb.

"You hurt yourself."

Yuki looked down at her thumb, her heartbeat slightly accelerated at the sound of his voice. What was it about his voice that made her feel so warm and dizzy?

Her thumb had a small drop of blood, slowly rolling down her finger. Long, soft and cool fingers gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. His face was so close!  
Yuki trembled with fear, without even understanding why she was afraid. The man pulled her hand up to his face, looking at the drop of blood on her thumb, almost intrigued.

Almost...Hungry.

 _'She smells delicious.'_

Gah! Why was she suddenly thinking of Aidou? Because of the way this man looked at her? So hungry, and honestly, almost lustfull.

 _'I could just eat her.'_

"Eh? Excuse me mister, but it's nothing. It hardly hurts, really. I can..."

Yuki's words were cut off by her gasp as he slowly licked the drop of blood from her thumb, once again looking at her with those hungry eyes. And to her shock and disbelief, before she knew what happened, he put her thumb in his mouth and softly sucked on it, his eyes glowing almost red.

"EH?"

...

...

...

 **A/N; Mh , I wonder. Now who could that mysterious man be? ;) I know I haven't introduced the full 'staff' yet, but it seemed a bit unreal if Yuki met them all in one mornig, considering the mansion is immense.**

 **I hope I got the personalities right. I find it quite a challenge to get myself into everybody's head and picture them correctly in words. I can only hope youguys like my view on them.**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, and If you want to know what happens next...make sure you get the memo when i update the next chapter.**

 **(warning: next chapter might get slightly Lemon-ish. Nothing too dirty yet, but who knows XD)**


	3. The master

**A/N: At first: Thank you so much for your reviews! I didn't expect this story to become so popular so soon. I hope I can reach your expectations of the story. Thanks again!**

 **CH. 3: The Master**

"Ahh! Mister! This is highly innapropriate! I'm a maid!"

"Hush now, aren't you enjoying this?"

Kain once again sighed behind Aidou, while the later was pushing a girl against a wall, kissing her neck feverishly. The said girl, completely surprised tried to struggle at first, but resigned to pleading when she realised he was too strong for her.  
Why didn't the other guy do anything to help her? He obviously didn't approve.

"Please, please stop!"

The girl's plea was cut short by her own moaning, as Aidou licked the nape of her neck. He chuckled in triumph as he felt her give in, but didn't have much time to enjoy his conquest. An all too familiar hand, grabbed his jacket from behind and roughly janked him backwards, landing him on his ass at Kain's feet.

Aidou looked at his master in shock.

"Kaname-sama!"

Kaname's hand hit his left cheek with a loud whacking sound. When he dared looking at him again, Kaname's eyes almost burned a hole in his face.

"I believe I told you not to touch the maids, Aidou."

"Y-Yes master."

"Kain!"

Kain lowered his gaze, too ashamed too look Kaname in the eyes, as Aidou slowly got back on his feet next to him.

"Why did you not stop Aidou?"

"I'm sorry-"

"That's not an answer."

Kaname's voice echoed trough the large hall, cold and dominating. He was the Lord of this house, and not only did he expect his servants to obey his rules, he felt obliged to protect them. Especially the girls. With Aidou around, sometimes he wondered if it had been wise to hire so many girls.

"Aidou."

"Yes, Kaname-sama?"

"Touch any of the girls again, and I will send you home."

Aidou's face dropped, as he stared at the floor in shock. He knew what he did was against Kaname's rules, but would he seriously ban him from the mansion for it?

"If you bite any of them, there's no guarantee our secret will remain hidden. You would become a risk to me. Am I clear?"

Aidou nodded wordlessly, and Kaname walked over to the girl against the wall, who seemed unable to move.

"What's your name?"

"Sayori, sir. But most just call me Yori."

"I'm sorry for his behaviour, Yori. please forget about it."

And with those words he put his hand on her head. A faint blue light glowed over her confused face, and she fainted. Catching her, Kaname lift her up and handed her over to Kain, who looked at him with clear surprise.

"Kaname?"

"Your punishment for not stopping Aidou. Take her to her room."

Kain bowed his head and left, the now unconscious Yori in his arms. Kaname sighed, and looked at Aidou with a pained face.

"I'll be in the library. Do not disturb me."

"Yes, Kaname-sama."

...

...

...

It smelled different here. Who opened the windows? And were those fresh roses? Kaname looked around the library. He didn't see anyone, but there was a trolley here, so one of the maids must be here. He strictly ordered Senri to tell Rima to give this task to Cross Yuki. This was a room with a lot of light, and not too heavy a job to keep clean. He didn't want the landlords daughter to exhaust herself. He owed the man too much to take advantage of his daughter. Besides, the girl was important to him.

Walking over to the mantelpiece, he took one of the roses from the vase there. He looked at it, surprised once more, by how vivid the color was. Roses were such beautifull things. The deep red of this rose reminded him of...

No. Do not think of that. Kaname halted his thoughts, feeling thirsty suddenly. In an attempt to distract himself, he brought the rose to his nose, breathing in it's scent. And hers. He felt as if his whole body pulsed with thirst and longing. She smelled so good. So sweet. So...delicious.

"Excuse me sir, I didn't see you before."

He looked at Yuki, who bowed in apology. When she straightened up, he stared at her. She was so pretty. Those big brown hues. The soft , slightly pale skin of her face. The maids outfit did her figure good. She looked good enough to eat.

Kaname resisted the urge to shake his head. He had to keep his mind clear. This was not the right moment to get wild ideas. He noticed the nervous look on her face, and her knees slightly shaking. considering the fact that she had called him sir, she didn't know who he was. She obviously did not remember him, even though he had met her when she was little.

"Did you choose these roses?"

"Yes sir. I'm sorry if they're not to your liking."

Kaname smiled. Not to his liking, what a strange girl. These were his absolute favorites. The fact that she picked what he would have chosen himself, made him strangely happy.  
Yuki obviously had no idea what to think of his silence, bowed again, and turned around to resume her work. But in her turn, her elbow knocked over the vase on the sidetable she had been standing next to, throwing the water and the roses on the floor.  
He watched her as she crouched to mop the water from the floor, trying to save as much as she could , putting it back in the vase, and started picking up the roses one by one. Kaname slowly and quietly, like a mouse, walked around the furniture untill he was right in front of her. She didn't notice him, as much as she didn't notice the skirt of her uniform had slightly slid back, and from this angle he could see her pink laced panties.

Pink,huh. That surprised him. Yuki didn't look like the girl to wear pink. He didn't get to enjoy the sight for long. Yuki already got up, the vase and the last rose in her hand. As she tried to get it between the other roses in the vase, she clearly pricked herself on one of the thorns, and with a soft yelp she dropped it. Kaname crouched, picked up the rose and put in back in the vase, taking the vase from her and put it back on the table. Yuki hardly seemed to notice, since she was too occupied staring at him. But Kaname just looked at her thumb.

A small drop of blood started to well up on her finger, and Kaname's nose felt itchy all of a sudden. This was terrible timing.

"You hurt yourself."

Startled by his voice she didn't respond, untill he grabbed her hand and pulled it up close to his face. He really shouldn't do this, especially not after scolding Aidou, but this was overkill.

"Eh? Excuse me mister, but it hardly hurts. I can..."

Kaname licked the blood of her thumb slowly, and to his enjoyment he heard Yuki gasp. She was so close he could feel her warmth radiating towards him. Her blood was so sweet, his body longed for more. And not just her blood. He wanted to feel her skin against his. He wanted to hear her moan. More. Louder.  
Ignoring the last warning in his head, he put her thumb in his mouth and softly sucked, lavishing the taste of her blood on his tongue. He looked at her bewildered face. He knew his eyes must be burning straight into her soul, but it didn't matter. This girl. Yuki...Yuki...Yuki.

"EHHH?"

...

...

...

Yuki could hear how loud her voice sounded in the otherwise silent library, but she didn't care. She was so shocked by what this man did. It was just too strange. She tried to pull her hand back, but he kept her hand in a firm grip as he kept looking at her. His eyes were seriously red now. That wasn't possible! Why were they red?

"Sir! Let go!"

He just smiled, finally pulling her thumb out of his mouth, only to give her hand a short, soft yank, but hard enough to pull her against his chest.

"Yuki. Do you not remember me?"

"What? No! Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"I'm Kuran Kaname. And I love you."

Yuki stopped struggling in his arms and looked up at his face. His eyes were no longer red, but they still seemed to burn. They burned with unrestrained passion as he gazed down into her eyes. This was the master. The Lord of the mansion. And he said he loved her. That didn't make any sense. And why did he ask her...

"Why should I remember you?"

"We met when you were little. I've known your father for a long time."

"I'm sorry. I don't remember. Now please, let me go."

Kaname just kept looking into her eyes, and Yuki felt herself go weak. His right hand was still firmly holding her left, and his left hand now rested on the low of her back, pressing her body against his. And that body did not feel bad at all. Yuki had boyfriends before, but none of them ever made her feel like this. But she didn't even know him, how could that be?

She was once again shocked out of her thoughts, when he turned both of them around, and slowly started pushing her back. Not knowing or understanding what he tried to do, she looked up at his smiling face, untill her back hit the bookshelves. She gasped in surprise, but yelped when he pulled her left hand above her head, pinning her between the shelves and his body. His face came closer,and Yuki turned her head, her eyes popping wide open when he whispered in her ear.

"Please don't be afraid of me , Yuki."

He begged her. His voice sounded so humble, so different from before.

"Ah!"

Yuki made a surprised sound, when Kaname pushed his right leg between hers, effectively rubbing her soft spot, as he started kissing her neck. His free hand slipped down to her right thigh, and suddenly pulled her leg up, placing it around his waist, pushing himself against her closer. Even though she did not understand why he did this, she couldn't keep a moan from escaping her lips. Her brain was scared, her body most certainly was not. She felt hot between her legs as he pushed his leg against her more.

"Yuki..."

He kept repeating her name, his voice sounding exasperated as he continued kissing her neck. Her free hand seemed to have it's own will, and slowly creeped up, sliding over his chest, up to his neck, and into his hair, grabbing a handfull of his locks. Surprised he pulled his head back a little and looked at her. She was panting, her breasts going up and down rapidly against his chest, and she looked at him with a confused but longing look in her eyes.

Without warning he closed the distance between their faces and kissed her on the lips, softly but passionately. His left hand slided over her upper leg again, around her thigh, and landed firmly on her ass.

"Mhhh!"

Just when Kaname let go of her left hand, and made an attempt to lift her up completely, the library door slammed open, revealing them to the furious eyes of Zero. Kaname slowly let Yuki go, and stepped back, keeping his eyes fixed on Zero, who stomped into the library, grabbed Yuki's wrist and pulled her to his side, his eyes almost shooting lightning at Kaname.

"You should know better. 'Kuran-san'.

The formal mentioning of his name was coated with hatred and sarcasm, and Kaname slightly smiled.

"Kiryu. Do not forget your place."

Zero grunted but said no more, and looked down at Yuki, who looked pretty shaken up.

"Time for lunch. Come with me."

He turned both of them around and meant to leave, but a strong hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so.

"Hands off, vermin!"

Zero snapped his head back at Kaname, who calmly removed his hand from Zero's shoulder, frowning as they left. He sighed. He had made a terrible mistake. Honestly he couldn't blame Zero for being angry, but the boy should know Yuki was his. Kaname's. Although it was clear to Kaname that Zero was in love with her, he would not hand her over to him. But there was another problem. Yuki might not remember who he was, she would definitely remember what just happened.

"Rima."

Rima appeared next to him, seemingly out of nowhere, like she just dropped from the ceiling. She landed without a sound, dropped to one knee, and bowed her head with her hand on her heart.

"Kaname-sama?"

"Wipe her memory."

.

.

.

.

.

"As you wish."


	4. the Hermit

**A/N: Sorry sorry sorry it took me so long! I was incredibly busy with so many things at once, writing kinda dissapeared to the background. Please enjoy this chapter**

 **CH 4: The Hermit.**

The glass mirror shattered to pieces as Kaname gave his reflection an infuriated window to his right cracked but stayed in place. As he covered his eyes, trying to contain himself, Aidou smacked the door open and moved to Kaname's side so fast, he wouldn't even have been seen by human eyes. He was closely followed by Ruka and Kain.\\., although they followed at a more controlled pace.

"Kaname-sama!"

His three closest friends echoed his name in unsison, showing their concern for their friend and master. They looked at the mirror shards and the cracked windwo, and back at their friend again, surprised that he didn't contain his powers, curious and afraid to what might have cost this outburst.

"I believe I must apologise, Aidou."

Aidou did not hide his surprise and confusement. Hiding his feelings never had been his strongest virtue

"Kaname?"

"It seems my selfcontrol is almost as bad as yours when it comes to Cross Yuki."

Aidou looked at him with eyes popped wide open in shock and disbelief. Kaname was still covering his eyes, but he heard Ruka turn on her heels, attempting to leave.

"Ruka. Thank you for feeding me. I won't be needing your blood anymore."

She left without replying and Kaname knew very well why. He knew she had been in love with him for a very long time. And he cared about her, even though he realised fully well that he had been using her the past couple of months. She had offered him her blood , so he wouldn't have to feed on humans, but it was hardly sattisfying. He was thankfull for it. But he just didn't feel The Connection with her. Something he did feel with Yuki. Yuki was meant to be his life partner, even though she did not know that herself. But he had known from the very first time he met her. That day, almost fourteen years ago.

.

.

.

 _"Excuse me, Cross-san? May I introduce the Kuran prince to you? "_

 _The ashy haired man turned around to face Kaname, and his legal guardian. His face lit up with a slight smile, and he bowed._

 _"It is always a pleasure, Aido-san."_

 _"This is my protégé, Kuran Kaname."_

 _Cross Kaien looked at him, and to Kaname's surprise he kneeled and bowed his head._

 _"It is my honor to meet you at last, Prince Kaname. Your mother has told me so much about you. I look forward to serving you, as I have served your parents._

 _Kaname looked down on the man, who looked like he was in his early thirties, humbly kneeled before him. He didn't like all these people bowing to him._

 _"Please get up."_

 _His voice sounded annoyed and Aidou Nagamichi gave him a scolding look from the side, remembering to keep up his parent's good reputation. And, more importantly, act like the royal blood he was._

 _"Excuse me for my rudeness. Please tell me, how did you know my late mother?"_

 _As they were talking, Kaname listened to the explanation of this man. To his surprise, the man appeared to have been close friends with his parents, and knew every little thing about them. But he was shocked when Cross Kaien told him about his secret job, and at the end of his story he looked at Nagamichi with a barely hidden anger._

 _"A vampire hunter?"_

 _"We can trust him, Kuran-sama. He is on our side. He's helping us to keep the criminals among us in check. He is the only human capable of punishing an Offender."_

 _Before Kaname could answer, a little girl, with long, straight, mahogony hair and brown eyes like a wild deers, came running out of the house._

 _"Daddy! Daddy! Look! I caught a butt...butt...butterfly!"_

 _The small, five year old girl struggled with the name of the insect a little, but proudly showed it to her dad. And sure as she said, the butterfly was calmly resting on her little thumb. Her eyes sparkled like stars, and her smile was blinding. She was obviously excited to show her new little friend. Cross Kaien turned and kneeled in front of her, admiring the butterfly._

 _"Now Yuki, It is beautifull, but you know you can't keep it. A butterfly needs to be free. It would be cruel to keep it captive, you know that right?"_

 _"Why, daddy? I'll take care of him."_

 _As Kaien was gently explaining to his daughter why she couldn't keep the butterfly, Kaname firmly grabbed Nagamichi's lower arm._

 _"Aidou...I feel something I have never felt before. What is with this girl?"_

 _Aidou lowered his voice to answer him._

 _"She is his adopted daughter, Kuran-sama. He found her on the side of the road last year. Hurt, barefoot. They haven't found her parents yet, so he takes care of her. There is no hope they will ever find her parents. It's been over a year. There was a car found,a rough mile from where he found her, crashed and burned, with two burned bodies in it, but there was not enough there to identify if they were her parents ,so he officially adopted her. Why do you ask? Are you not feeling well?"_

 _"I feel like she's binding me to this very spot."_

 _In the meantime Kaien had gotten back up to his feet, his daughter at his side._

 _"May I introduce my daughter to you, Prince Kuran? This is Yuki."_

 _Two big, brown eyes looked up at him, observing him. And then she gave him her brightest smile yet._

 _"Kuran-sama!"_

 _And his heart felt warm for the first in a long time._

.

.

.

.

That had only been the first of many times Kuran met her when she was a little girl. A strange feeling, like magnetism, kept leading him back to her, visiting her whenever he could. After a while she started calling him Kaname,wich made him feel strangely happy. He started playing with her, even though Aidou Nagamichi tried to discourage him to visit her as often as he did. But he couldn't help it.

"From the moment your father and I met Yuki, I knew I would make her my wife. From that first moment, I've felt the Connection with her."

Aidou and Kain looked at him. Aidou looked very much shocked, where Kain didn't even move a muscle. But Kain was the first to speak.

"The Connection? With a human? Are you sure, Kaname sama?"

"More sure than i have ever been. And that's one of the reasons I made a hermit out of myself. I can't hurt her again."

"Again?"

...

...

...

...

In the meantime, on the other side of the mansion, Yuki woke up in her own bed, immediately confused about how she got there. The last thing she remembered was pricking her finger on the thorn of that rose. Who was that man that was there with her? Did he bring her here?

He was clearly one of the Lord's private staff members, considering the way he was dressed. But what happened after she pricked her finger?

"You're finally awake. God, you're a nuisance."

Yuki turned her head towards Zero's voice, seeing him sitting on a chair next to her bed, his legs stretched out, his arms crossed, like he was watching over her.

"What happened?"

Zero didn't look at her, but looked away as if something was annoying him.

"Apparently you fainted after pricking your finger on a thorn. I can't believe you can't even stand a little bit of blood."

"I can! I never fainted at the sight of blood!"

"Well, you ended up here. You explain it then."

But Yuki couldn't. She couldn't remeber anything at all. Apart from that man.

"Who was that man in the library?"

Zero's eyes flashed up to her face, only to quickly look away again.

"What are you talking about? You were alone when Shiki found you. Rima called me and ordered me to bring you to your room."

"There was someone there with me when I pricked my finger, Zero."

"You must be delussional."

His obvious disbelief annoyed Yuki tremendously. Like she would just make up a face like that. It was the handsomest face she ever saw, and she simply could not forget it. How could that just be her imagination? It infuriated her that Zero didn't believe her.

"Get out, Zero. I want to take a bath."

As she threw her covers to the side, Zero firmly but gently pushed her back in the matress, and covered her up again. He was now sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand next to each of her sides, leaning over her a little. It made Yuki uncomfortable.

"Zero?"

"You're suposed to rest. Go to sleep. I'm going down to eat. I'll save some for you and bring it up later."

Zero bowed down, gently kissed her forehead and got up. Surprised and confused, Yuki watched him leave, and turned to her belly, hugging her pillow.

"What did he do that for? Stupid Zero."

But Zero had been right. She felt exhausted and before long, Yuki fell sound asleep.

.

.

.

 _"Yuki...Yuki...Yuki...I love you."_

 _"Stop..Stop! What are you doing?"_

 _The man from the library pushed her back against the wall, putting his hands on her, kissing her neck, looking at her with these hungry eyes. Suddenly he landed her on the bed, crawling on top of her as he tugged at her clothes._

 _"Ahh, please! You can't..."_

 _She gasped when he kissed her lower ribs,and kissed a trail to her breasts._

 _"I love you Yuki."_

 _"I don't know who you are!"_

 _His face snapped up, his glowing red eyes meeting hers. Yuki screamed in horror when she saw blood dripping from his lips, and his lips pulled up in a wicked smile._

 _"Remember me, Yuki. Love me. Remember me."_

 _"Stop it!"_

 _But the man leaned down again, and Yuki once again screamed as she felt a sharp pain just below her ribs. When she looked down, she saw that he was still kissing her, but it seemed like he was trying to leave a hickey, and then she saw the blood._

 _He bit her! He was drinking her blood! He looked up at her again, his eyes glowing blood red. And Yuki screamed on top of her lungs._

 _._

 _._

 _._

Yuki jerked upright in her bed, sweating. She was out of breath, her troath hurt, and she felt tears rolling down her face. She threw aside the covers for the second time that day, and pulled up her shirt, feverishly touching her sides and her ribs.

She was okay. Everything was ok. It was a dream. There was no blood, no wound.

Yuki slowly got up and walked to the bathroom, turning on the shower. When the water reached a nice temperature, she gor in the shower, and starting washing up, hoping the warm water and the nice calming scent of her bathsoap would wash away the nighmare. When she was done , she carefully got out to dry off, and turned to face the mirror, to see how tired and worn out the nightmare had made her look.

She screamed in surprise and fear when she saw the reflection of his face behind her in the mirror. She quickly turned around to face him, but he wasn't there.

Had Zero been right? Was she imaganing things?

 **A/N: Thanks for reading again! let me know what you think!**


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